Medicaid Impasse Complicates Other Political Deals In Lansing

Governor Rick Snyder says he’s concerned the deadlock over expanding Medicaid to cover more un-insured working people could be repeated on other tough questions.

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The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta tells us that the governor says he still thinks he can break the cycle.

Governor Snyder has called on state Senate Republicans to return to Lansing to vote on the Medicaid expansion. If not, Snyder says he could see the pattern repeated on raising more money for roads, student performance standards, and other controversial issues. He’s already been rebuffed on creating a state-run insurance exchange.

But the governor says he remains optimistic that there is a path to winning an expansion of Medicaid.

“And then what’s the next problem we can take and be relentless in solving one problem, with common sense right after the next,” he says.

The governor wants the Legislature to tackle road funding once a Medicaid deal is approved. He wants that done within 30 days, but the Senate is not expected to reconvene until late August. The governor says that would be too late.